India's U19 captain Ayush Mhatre brought his A game to the fore as he struck a handsome century on the opening day of the first youth Test against England U19 at the Kent County Cricket Ground in Beckenham on Saturday, July 12. The 17-year-old batting sensation clobbered a magnificent 102 runs off just 115 deliveries to help India end day's game at 450/7. MS Dhoni's Chennai Super Kings' teammate opened the batting alongside Vaibhav Suryavanshi, who couldn't do much with the bat.
Ayush Mhatre tonks handsome ton for India U-19 in 1st Youth Test against England U-19
During his time at the crease, Mhatre hit a total of 14 boundaries and two sixes. He reached his maiden century in youth Tests with a lofted shot off Archie Vaughan on the very first ball of the 36th over of the Indian innings. A video of this boundary, bowled by Archie who is the son of former England captain Michael Vaughan, went viral on social media.
Mhatre and Suryavanshi managed to put on an opening partnership of 17 runs before Suryavanshi was dismissed after scoring 14 runs from 13 balls. After a relatively quiet start, Mhatre accelerated his scoring rate significantly during his partnership with Vihaan Malhotra, as the pair added an impressive 173 runs together. Malhotra contributed 67 runs off 99 balls to this substantial stand.
Mhatre's innings eventually came to an end in the 38th over when Vaughan managed to get his revenge. The Indian captain couldn't do much in the Youth ODIs against England, where he only managed to score a total of 27 runs.
Mhatre also hogged limelight in the IPL 2025 season, where he played for Chennai Super Kings. Signed as a replacement for Ruturaj Gaikwad, the 17-year-old made a strong impression with his fearless approach to batting. In that tournament, Mhatre scored 240 runs in 7 matches, achieving a highest score of 94 and maintaining an impressive strike-rate of 188.97.
Coming back to the match, right after Mhatre's dismissal, it was Abhigyan Kundu and Rahul Kumar who steadied India U-19's boat with their robust knocks of 90 and 85 as visitors finished the day at 450/7. For England, Vaughan, Alex Green and Jack Home chipped in with two wickets each